![]() Viewed broadly, these Christian Greek organizations enjoyed local success in their early years but they did not experience the national growth seen by more traditional Greek organizations. That sorority was founded in 1925 while Alpha Gamma Omega was founded in 1927, two years later, likewise at UCLA. Traditionally, formation of the Christian sororities, later to become national organizations, has followed establishment of Christian fraternities, some as independent groups, and some in a "brother/sister" relationship, except in the case of Alpha Delta Chi, the first such Christian-emphasis organization on its campus. Some organizers, assuming that the traditional GLOs lacked sufficient moral guardrails in pursuit of social programming, emerged to create the first objectively Christian (Protestant, then Evangelical) fraternities and sororities. Long-established Bible study groups took on Greek Letter names, the first being Kappa Phi, a Bible-study and service club on twenty-four campuses Yet the Kappa Phi Club still does not self-identify as a social sorority. The idea of separate, thematic-focused fraternities and sororities continued to interest Christian students, their families and spiritual leaders. Yet Black, then Hispanic and Asian GLOs which likewise began to form have remained widely popular, some using the moniker "Multicultural", though all the national GLOs have removed "bias clauses" from their governing documents and policies, and all are racially integrated. Similarly, Catholic nationals and locals merged, began opening chapters on non-Catholic campuses and welcoming students of Protestant heritage. Only a fraction of Jewish fraternities remain, after multiple mergers. Soon, the separate Jewish nationals and scattered locals began to merge, responding as traditional Greek chapters became more open to religious integration, adding Jewish and Catholic members. But this would change with the passage of the G.I. Prior to WWII, relatively few Black or Hispanic students entered college. After the integration of WWII GIs and the war's immediate aftermath, colleges and workplaces were abruptly far more integrated. But it was important to note that America was far more insular in the pre-WWII era in many cases Jewish and Catholic families, and their rabbis and priests wished to ensure that their children socialized primarily within their own religious traditions, thus establishing their own, competing Greek Letter organizations (GLOs) distinct from the "WASPy" traditional Greeks. The rise of specifically Jewish, then Catholic, then Black, and then specifically Christian fraternities and sororities was a response (by the Jewish and Catholic groups first, then by students of non-white ethnicity) to the desire for fraternal membership where membership was barred. Over time, traditional (~original) fraternities and sororities have relaxed some of the wording of their rituals and codes to allow a more pluralistic model and open membership to a broader group of collegians. This may have been as simple as an official opening or closing prayer, expanding to Biblical lessons contained within rituals, and rules regarding behavior that are modeled on various Christian, or Jewish strictures. Later organizations added more defined social programming along with a Christian emphasis, bridging the gap between non-secular traditional sororities and church-sponsored bible study groups, campus ministries and sect-based clubs and study groups.Īll collegiate fraternities and sororities, beginning with Phi Beta Kappa in 1776, had, at inception, either a tacit or overt spiritual component. Kappa Phi was a women's sisterhood that developed out of a bible study and remains one of the largest nationally present Christian women's collegiate clubs today. While most of the traditional women's fraternities or sororities were founded decades before the start of the 20th century, the first ever specifically Christian-themed Greek Letter Organization formed was the Kappa Phi Club, founded in Kansas in 1916. ![]() JSTOR ( April 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: "Christian sororities" – news Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification. ![]()
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